Cha rles j



(No Model.)

C. J. SGHMID.

INNEE SOLE FOR BOOTS 0R SEOES. No. 318,209. Patented May 19,1885.

r" R? R3 1 N WITNESSES: L 6 DTVENTOR: y w Miami v ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. SOHMID, OF PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO PADAN BROTHERS & OO., OF SAME PLACE.

INNER SOLE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,209, dated May 19, 1885.

Application filed March 3, 1885. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Onannns J. SOHMID, of Portsmouth, in the county of Scioto and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Inner Sole for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has for its object the obtaining of a flexible bottom for boots and shoes by or through the construction of the insole, which is made flexible. This I do by splitting theinsole intermediately of its thickness from the toe to or toward the shank, and cuting a piece out of the lower split portion of the sole, so as to leave a longitudinal opening therein bounded on all sides by the leather of the sole, and, furthermore, by cementing or otherwise uniting the whole and apertured portions of the split part of the sole together and filling the panel formed by the opening in the under side of the sole and marginal parts of the sole inclosing the same with a flexible material of any suitable description. A flexible insole thus made essentially differs from ,a flexible insole having a central longitudinal opening through its whole thickness between the toe and the shank closed by a soft and flexible material applied to the under side of said opening and united at its overlapping margins with the leather of the sole around said opening, and with an upper cover or sole-lining extending over the upper face of the opening, leaving a space between said lining and flexible lower cover or filling.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents an inverted plan or under View of a flexible insole embodying my invention; Fig. 2, an edge view of the sole, not inverted, but split from toe to shank as in the course of manufacture; and Fig. 3, a longitudinal section on the line av w in Fig. 1.

A indicates the insole,which may be made of the usual or any suitable quality of leather, and which is split, as at b, from the toe to or to- Ward the shank, leaving upper and lower separated portions, a a.

In or through the lower one, a, of these split portions an aperture, c, is cut, of any desired marginal configuration and size, but preferably conforming to the shape of the sole, and bounded or inclosed by the leather of the lower split portion of the sole. The upper split portion, a, of said sole is not so apertured, but may be left whole or entire, and when laid down over the apertured portion a forms not only a cover to the opening 0 in the lower half or portion of the split part of the sole, but a smooth regular extension of the upper surface of the sole. This constitutes a flexible insole without even a soft or yielding filling to the opening 0; but to give astill more perfeet result, or to make the insole more complete, I cement or otherwise unite the upper split porti on, a, with the lower split portion, a, having the opening a in it, and insert within the panel thus made, or opening 0, a filling, d, of any suitable flexible or yielding material of a character or nature that will give an increased flexibility to that part of the sole, and that may be cemented or otherwise united to the under side of the upper split portion, a.

Said improved insole may be placed or secured within the boot or shoe as ordinary in soles are applied, and the sole when filled as described be of approximately the same thickness and present flush surfaces top and bottom, or nearly so, throughout its length and width,if desired.

In effect said insole is a solid one recessed on its under side between the toe and the shank, preferably with a soft and flexible filling inserted in said recess, and it may be made otherwise, if desired, than by splitting the so1eas, for instance, by scoring out the recess in the under side of the sole. This term recess is in distinction to a throughopening through the whole thickness of the sole to provide for the yielding effect it is desired to produce.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a flexible insole for boots and shoes, the sole split or divided intermediately of its thickness from the toe to or toward the shank, I gether, and having an opening, 0, in its lower IO to form upper and lower face portions, and portion, a, in combination with the fillinghaving its lower split face portion provided piece d, of flexible material, essentially as with an opening between the toe and the shank, shown and described.

5 substantially as specified.

2. Ina flexible insole for boots and shoes, CHARLES SOHMID' the sole A, split or divided, as at b, from the Witnesses: toe to or toward the shank,with the split por- FRED F. BAKER,

tions a a, afterward cemented or united to- J. P. PURDUM. 

